Hello everyone and welcome to this session of inspiring women transforming science a virtual event by the Rosalind Franklin society that highlights successes and spotlights critical change makers I’m udak Thomas senior editor at Jen and it is my privilege to be your host for this University leadership and opportunity session I’m not going to
Waste any time it is my pleasure to introduce our distinguished guest speaker for this session Dr Wesley Harris is a professor of Aeronautics and astronautics and head of new house residence hall at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology he’s also served as head of mit’s Department of Aeronautics and astronautics as associate Provost for
Faculty equity and before joining MIT he worked as the associate administrator for Aeronautics responsible for all programs facilities and Personnel in Aeronautics at Nasa as vice president and chief administrative officer of the University of Tennessee space Institute and as dean of the School of Engineering and professor of mechanical engineering
At the University of Connecticut his list of accomplishments does not stop there he’s also served as chair and member of various boards and Committees of the national research Council the National Science Foundation the US Army science board University space research Association and several state governments he’s also served on
The Committees of the American Institute of Aeronautics and astronautics the American Helicopter society and the National Technical Institute and in addition to that he has served as advisers to colleges as an adviser to colleges universities and institutes Dr Harris is also a prolific researcher with interests in unsteady aerodynamics aeroacoustics rarified gas dynamics
Hypersonics sustainment of capital assets and Chaos incle cell disease and he has made seminal contributions in each of those research Fields now if those accomplishments weren’t impressive enough Dr Harris is also the current vice president president of the National Academy of engineering and he’s an elected fellow of several associations
For engineering achievements engineering education management and advancing cultural diversity Dr Harris we are so pleased to have you here with us thank you for joining us we’re going to get things started with a brief talk from you and then you and I will have a brief
Discussion so with that the floor is all yours um good good morning and thank you for the opportunity uh to have a have a chat um to sort of uh dissect my world line how did I arrive at this point and uh what role has mentors in particular played in enabling me
To understand science to contribute to science and engineering and to trans first some of the fundamental pillars of advancement that I learned absorbed along my journey i’ like to start with Richmond Virginia 100 miles or so south of the nation’s capital um I was born in re in Richmond Virginia
Virginia and Richmond in particular has had a very prominent role in history of uh the US in addition to being the capital of the state of Virginia it was also the first capital of the Confederacy and it has u a long history related to that as a high school student
At the conclusion or during my junior year I was taking High School physics um the instructor the teacher the mentor the spark was an African-American woman by the name of Eloise Bose Washington Eloise Bose Washington was every ounce every gram a southern black woman in appearance and intensity and sharpness and
Mercy she went North in the late 40s to the University of Pennsylvania to earn a master’s degree in physics at that time in Virginia the schools were segregated we were not even allowed to go to the public libraries to for reading material only whites could go to the public libraries
But Eloise bills Washington went nor earned her degree in physics master’s degree and return to Richmond knowing that she would not be able to obtain employment at a university nor any other Laboratories the few that existed in Richmond at the time so she ended up teaching physics at Armstrong High School in Richmond
That’s when she decided to take me under her Wing we built a cloud chamber to investigate the Collision of arop particles with water droplets uh we started with a clean sheet of paper uh we built the chamber we bought our dry ice we produced the clouds we
Took the dials from a a watch um in order to generate the afop particles we actually observed and photographed the Collision of those afro particles with water droplets we developed a poster we took our project to the black high school science fair in Virginia uh the project won first place in that
Competition Mrs Washington was excited and suggested R take our project the cloud chamber the Collision of afpr prodical water droplets to the white high school science fair in Virginia which we did and it came in third m Washington said came in third because because of some problems with her guidance which was clearly
Wrong or she said to me U because it it was thir that I had a responsibility Duty I must go to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville which is where the White House school science Feld was held so um Miss Washington having taken care of me in so many dimensions guiding me
Intellectually bringing me along socially uh making me understand or offering me an opportunity to understand what this world is is about what it what it means to work hard um work as hard as you have to Wesley if Excellence is the objective let Excellence be deter determining Factor as to how hard you’re
Working so I asked said Miss Washington why must I go to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville uh she gave me three reasons first she said Wesley when they see you there’ll be no question that you app black in those days you were a negro uh second Wesley you will succeed
Academically you will demonstrate to whites that absolute scholarship by a black person a negro is a product that you will do this and third she said Wesley this is 1960 you know they whites cannot kill you so I saluted went to the University of Virginia knowing full well that I could
Never ever obtain at Virginia what I wanted I wanted to be like Mrs Washington I wanted a degree in physics the University of Virginia would not allow blacks to major in physics no chemistry no mathematics no English nor economics no French no religion even we were only allowed to enter the
University of Virginia in the School of Engineering in that last point that m Washington made about they can’t kill you UVA in those days were or was an institution with 4,000 students white men no women and seven black men and the reputation that goes with 32 fraternities white fraternities not
Sororities in the drunkenness and the drinking so there was real concern about danger but I I saluted majored in aerospace engineering first student to graduate from UVA with honors in engineering um first African-American elected to membership in the Jefferson Thomas Jefferson literary and debating society which is the oldest literary in
Debating Society in America and Miss Washington was always there checking calling making sure that I was okay and that I did not forget the second objective absolute scholarship Excellence is the objective you work as hard as you need to be in order to obtain that goal of Excellence so the profoundness of Eloise
Bose Washington the confidence the belief the stimulation the wholesomeness the foundation that she provided has been the rock upon which I stand even today another important part of Eloise B Washington was the idea of giving and shuring somehow she was able to take a look at a poor unders serve underrepresented young
Black boy in Richmond and not to be afraid of him but she could discern something of value and decided not to let it go but to nurture it and make it grow and I’ve tried to to make sure that’s what I offer my graduate students hypersonics my graduate students in
Unsteady aerodynamics my graduate students in chaos and sick of cell disease it’s Eloise B Washington that provided the foundation that sustains Wesley Harris clearly there have been other mentors along the way at the University of Virginia I identify John it with Scott George B Matthews and John Langley happen to be all white
Men Scott and Matthews are graduates of Princeton University Aerospace um not only did they Mentor me as an arest student or tuted me as an Hest student at University of Virginia but they made very clear that if I wanted to graduate from UVA I could do
So if and only if I go to princeon for my PhD which I did um I mean this is really true um it’s not making us up and at Princeton uh there are two mentors George Bowski my thesis advisor and Professor Harvey lamb um who’s on my committee uh both gentlemen have passed
Now George Bowski said to me Wesley you at Princeton um you will write an excellent thesis that’s sort of a given at Princeton sort of like you don’t ask for excellence at Princeton it’s it’s there he said to me Wesley what what Princeton is about is not the
PHD it’s what you take from Princeton for life that will never leave you that will always be with you so we had discussions about that you know and in abstract terms or in concrete terms really what you take away from Princeton what George B Andi wanted me to really understand is that number
One what is a well-posed problem be it in Aerospace be it in chaos and Cel what what be it in economic expence sustainment what’s a wellp problem what is the hypothesis out coming out of that well-posed problem that you want to prove or proof number two Wesley what are the key
Questions related to that hypothesis related to the wellos problem that you must answer in order to dissect that hypothesis number three Wesley what tools analytical tools today’s world you could use AI tools comp computational tools uh experimental tools that you need in order to answer those questions and critically number four
Wesley how do you know by what standard will you assess your work never ever take the cake out of the oven until it’s done okay and that sort of fits what m Washington was trying to say to me work as hard as you need to be excellent okay
Leave nothing unturn unbaited do it all and do it well because Excellence is the only Mark that makes a difference so here we are today resting on the shoulders of Eloise Bose Washington and John Scott George Matthews John Langley George panowski Javi lamb and then here at
MIT my mentor was Leon trilling Leon lived to the age of 92 Leon’s family left Poland in 1933 and from Poland to France from France to Portugal and from Portugal to Cuba and from Cuba to the US Leon earned his PhD at Caltech one of the first Jewish faculty
Members uh in engineering at MIT he he I gave a presentation at MIT regarding regarding my phc work at Princeton and Professor trilling was in the audience at during my presentation and he he remained there during the entire session about two hour two hours he
Uh he approached me at the end of my at the end of the session and asked me would I consider teaching and Performing research at MIT and I told him no um very eloquent man speaking four languages um very refined gentlemen so I I said I want to go back
To the South which I did uh there was no internet in those days but there were telephones and Leon called constantly Wesley when are you coming to MIT when are you come to MIT Leon I don’t want to go to MIT I want to stay
In the south so I I finally yield uh realizing that either I have to rip my phone out or or respond to Leon in the affirmative which I did and that and that that was the story of how I got to MIT it’s Leon trillin it’s Leon Trin
It’s Leon Trin and he certainly has been my mentor uh throughout my MIT career and I’ve been here started in 1972 on and off for some 50 years so um so that’s the story it all starts with Eloise Bose Washington Eloise Bose Washington in a sleepy old southern town Richmond Virginia in a
Totally segregated Community all the teachers all the instructors principls all the administrators all of the students all the football coaches uh were black were Negroes we didn’t even have new textbooks the white high schools would send their used textbooks to Armstrong High School sometime the pages were to out torn out
Sometimes the nword was used read this but that didn’t bother Eloise B Washington she wanted science she wanted physics she wanted excellence and she was prepared to do whatever it takes to demonstrate Excellence whatever it takes in terms terms of Reason in terms of rational arguments in terms of
Preparation in terms of design in terms of hard work hard work for excellence that’s all she said hard work for excellence West don’t forget that so that’s my story Wesley thank you so much uh for sharing your story with us you’ve had you have an incredible story um have had
An incredible career and obviously are Paving the way for others um to Aspire to and reach the same Excellence uh that you have done in your life uh I’m truly truly inspired thank you um and obviously as you’ve highlighted throughout your presentation the importance and power of mentors um Miss
Eloise Washington who got you on that path early on and expected so much from you and pushed you and encourag you to Aspire to more but also the other uh people who came along in your life later on down the road and encouraged you even further and mentored you even further um
And I imagine that some of our our audience listening are thinking how can I uh get mentors that similarly encourage and inspire me uh to to reach for reach for the stars and and Achieve excellence in my own career so I was wondering do you have any advice or recommendations um particularly for
Women and and minorities in uh in science science and stem Fields um who are looking for those mentors and who do want uh to achieve Excellence how could they go about building and and connecting uh with with potential mentors and building those relationships when I reflect on Eloise Bose my
Relationship with Eloise Bose Washington with uh John Scott and George Matthews and ban Kowski and and Leon trilling and others I come to the Power Balance Mrs Washington maintained this Superior position as did Scott and Matthews and longle and Bowski and lamb and Trin so I said to my my graduate
Students that I’m working with in hypersonics it is west Harris’s responsibility to reach out to each of those students Wes Harris must believe that he is given an opportunity to develop talent that He has the experience and maybe the wisdom to identify that Talent sometimes when it’s not even
Obvious but every graduate student every undergraduate student that I am able to engage with I look for an opportunity to serve that student that’s what m Washington did so it’s not incumbent upon the student so much as it is the mentor the mentor must because of the power of
Balance be able and willing to reach out to those who are offered to him or Her just by their presence because you hear it m MIT there’s something within you within your background that’s worthy that deserves my time my attention my ability to bond with you to build scholarship yes but as George Bowski said ideas and concepts for life so thank you so much um so you are
You’ve been at MIT for for several years and I’ve accomplished a lot there um even though you said you were somewhat of a reluctant uh recruit uh in the beginning um but I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about what MIT is doing in terms of both supporting and
And mentoring women and in minorities in stem Are there specific initiatives or or projects or efforts to sort of build up uh both women and minorities uh in science um the answer is absolutely yes and uh when I began my career here in August of 1972 and Jerry Weisner was the president
A man named Paul Gray at the time was uh in the department of electrical engineering computer science Paul Gray eventually became uh president of MIT immediately following Jerry Weisner so we’re coming out of the Vietnam era now this is 72 there abouts and uh or in the midst of the Vietnam
Era and the undergraduate population uh of women undergraduate students that was maybe 5% it was Paul Gray who made a decision to change that including removal of the dean of admissions bringing in a different person today um the population of women undergraduates is about 50% Maybe even
51% a tremendous change in in MIT uh to respect women as those who can produce scholarship those that can be excellent uh in their work that was the major change at MIT in my view Nancy Hopkins and other faculty white faculty white faculty member certainly made the case uh documented
Research uh locally as to what role the few women white women faculty members played in their respective departments and it was Chuck vest as president who took that report and moved forward with it and we do have now a growing body of women faculty members in particular white women faculty members
I I believe that uh that spirit is continuing uh along with the growth of white women faculty members U faculty of color have also grown by Leaps and Bounds since 1972 where we had at that point maybe five I think we now have 60 across the
Five schools that we have here at MIT so there’s been there’s been significant change in that regard the undergraduate population of Hispanic or Latino uh students have grown and has continued to grow the undergraduate population of African-Americans has stagnated and is rather flat and that’s those Trends I don’t
Want to try to explain uh simply present the data as it exists um MIT is active MIT presents itself as an institution institution that believes in the value of inclusiveness um and diversity in terms of getting the very best from all possible resources to make a better
World that’s that’s a part of what we are and how we tend to operate here at MIT there are people there are organizations there are resources in place to advance that idea uh from the vice provos level all the way down to uh each department some 20 OD departments
Having a diversity officer um that’s a paid employee to advance the idea of getting the very best that the world has to offer in terms of U having an impact in developing a better world wonderful thank you um I wanted to talk a little bit about your accomplishments um I just reading
Through uh your your list of accomplishments and the research areas that you’ve done a lot of work and there’s there’s so much such a rich rich and and storyed career I was wondering if there were particular accomplishments maybe one or two um from your career that you would like to highlight that
You are most proud of yes uh the the first one is is AER Acoustics um okay so so so this is all military okay it’s it’s not civilian work during the Vietnam conflict um the US forces uh found itself losing helicopters um not by cannon fire or missiles or drones but helicop
Helicopters in Vietnam would fly over a vegetated a forest in uh a small caliber weapon in the hands of those living in the forest would be used to uh knock down to destroy a helicopter so the research office came to MIT and said what um how do we solve that
Problem uh and the problem had the the problem again this is being kowsky now the problem was noise arero acoustic and that forest with the human ear no instrumentation those on the ground in the forest could determine the type of helicopter how fast it was flying and
From which direction it was coming just with the human ear helicopters are very unstable devices if you lose the tail rotor so with a small caliber pistol you could destroy a helicopter so we did some we perform experiments and Analysis in the aror Wind Tunnel at MIT that demonstrated how to reduce the
Acoustic signature without penalty on performance okay of course you can always reduce the acoustic signature by stop Flying but that was not an answer that was a constraint they had to maintain performance so we demonstrate that and if you were to take a look at helicopters in today’s environment in
The military they are fast and considerably quieter than what they were in the Vietnam era and one of one of my PhD students was James Hubbert an African-American did a a one-of-the-kind experiment in that earthqu wind tunnel uh that that demonstrated for the first time and no on of May repeat this experiment
Uh what happens in Blade a phenomenon called blade slap U and and H has gone on to be a member of the National Academy of engineering a a full professor at Texas A&M University uh and college station and James hubber is African-American so that’s one um okay another piece that I’m very
Excited about is work with another African-American student we we ask ourselves what happens if a person is in a car accident and there is a severe injury in the thigh area and that large artery is uh punctured uh the First Responders in order to prevent uh shock loss of blood
Will go in and rip up tendons muscles in order to clamp that artery and recover sometimes uh the person’s able to walk again can be can be very demanding so Tac and I develop a plasma a fluid substance that has the same stress strain properties as human blood we injected a microsized iron
Particles into that plasma that fluid that has the same properties stress strange properties as human blood the idea was to inject that substance that that plasma labatory May plasma and iron particles Upstream of the wound the heart still beating will force that substance toward the punctured artery clamp a magnet around
That that area the magnet will attract those iron particles form a gate and stop the Heming without ever destroying or breaking or sering the muscles and tendons and it and it can do it in significantly less time so we tried this we worked with our doctors and colleagues over at Mass
General Hospital we have demonstrated the success of the AR of this process with uh uh small animals we now want to go forward with u dogs with pigs uh with larger animals and then if we are comple we will attempt it with uh with humans so that’s those are the two
Extremes one military and one uh in the bio uh area so fascinating thank you so much I’d be really interested to see how things progress with uh with the the second research that uh projects that you described with the clamp and hopefully that really works out that sounds incredibly interesting and
Amazing um thank you so much Dr Harris for being here with us today that brings us to the end of our session um and I want to say once again thank you so much for being here and for sharing your journey with us uh sharing your research
And all the work that you’re doing um thank you very much Dr Harris I appreciate you you’re welcome all the best
source
